Management+System

Management:
 * Management Agreement (including head counselor description & school counselor job description)
 * Advisory Council
 * Action Plans
 * Use of Time
 * Calendars

**Management Agreement** The management agreement is a document that is created in tandem between counselors, principals, and administrators to outline the responsibilities and duties of each counselor. In addition, this document discusses how students will be assigned to various counselors in the building and also designates which counselor(s) in the department will be deemed "specialists" in the three major domains of the ASCA National Model which include Personal/Social, Career, and Academic standards. One of the most important aspects of the Management Agreement is the budgeting of time for each counselor. This includes the times when counselors are available to work with students and collaborate with other faculty members as well as how time will be spent completing the four elements of the ASCA National Model Delivery System including the following: School guidance curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services, and system support. __Lead Counselor__ The lead counselor serves as the representative of all school counselors within a school's counseling department. This person is tasked with overseeing the development of the program's comprehensive program and evaluating the success of academic, personal/social, and career-oriented units that are being conducted by the school counselors. The lead counselor also serves as the go-between for school counselors and the district administration including, but not limited to, the Director of Counseling Services, the Director of Student Services, the school board, and the Superintendent. The lead counselor plays the role of resource provider for all counselors, particularly those who are new to the profession, department, or district. More specifically, the Lead Counselor:
 * Leads all intra-department staff meetings
 * Is the representative of the counseling department to school administration
 * Acts as a mentor for new counselors
 * Manages staff development among counselors
 * Develops in-service training for all school faculty
 * Assists in the hiring of new counselors
 * Regularly stays in contact with community liaisons and programs while analyzing their effectiveness
 * Oversees the continuing process of remaining in accordance with the ASCA National Model
 * Has a minimum of five (5) years experience as a school counselor

__School Counselor__ The school counselor is mainly responsible for conducting individual and group counseling and educating students based on a guidance curriculum developed by the district. The duties of a school counselor are based upon the needs of the student population and can fluctuate over the course of a school year. The following document provides a general description of what is expected of all school counselors in developing and managing a comprehensive school counseling program, delivering the program, and assuring that the program is effective.



**Advisory Council** An advisory council serves an important role in the comprehensive school counseling program and is comprised of many stakeholders from within the school and the outside community. This group serves to oversee the development of the counseling program and consistently reviews the goals set forth by the counselors, assures that all competencies within the ASCA National Model are being met, and makes recommendations as to how to improve various aspects of the counseling program. Blue Rock Secondary School has focused on building an advisory council that is representative of a diverse group of individuals in the community who can offer valuable insight to help progress the counseling program to continued success both now and in the future. The following is a list of individuals who make up the advisory council at Blue Rock (listed alphabetically):

Ms. Erin Anderson- Blue Rock School Counselor Mr. Adam Brown- Blue Rock School Counselor Ms. Rita Cruz- Asst. Superintendent and Director of Student Services, Blue Rock School District Mr. Greg Dietz- Blue Rock School Counselor Mr. George Fleming- Lead Custodian, Blue Rock Secondary School Ms. Mercedes Giles- Parent Ms. Sharon Herr- Owner, Herr's Family Market and Herr's Family Farm Ms. Brenda Jacobs- Blue Rock Secondary School Principal Ms. Sandra Jones- Blue Rock Librarian Ms. Leona Krass- Music Department Chair, Blue Rock School District Mr. Jack McCollum- Driver Supervisor, Hess Bus Company Mr. Alan Nelson- Science Department Chair, Blue Rock Secondary School Ms. Samantha Preston- Parent/PTO President Mr. Ralph Rodriguez- English Department Chair, Blue Rock Secondary School Mr. Michael Schoch- Blue Rock School Counselor Ms. Beatrice Stinson- Parent Ms. Jackie Thomas- CTC School Counselor Mr. Gary Walker- Asst Superintendent and Director of Curriculum, Blue Rock School District Mr. Jamal Yates- School Board Member, Blue Rock School District Dr. Douglas Zander- Associate Provost for Enrollment Management, Millersville University

While it is recommended that the advisory council meet at least twice a year, it is the goal of this comprehensive counseling program that the advisory council will meet on a bi-monthly basis during the months of October, December, February, April, and once at the end of the school year in June to analyze how the school year went and where to go at the beginning of the next school year. It is the hope that people serving on the advisory council will hold the position for more than one year to ensure continuity and consistency. The lead counselor of the school will be responsible for setting dates and times for the meetings, creating the agenda, and chairing the meeting.

**Action Plans** Action plans are used to deliver the school counseling program and plan out how specific lessons will be introduced to students. There are two types of action plans, guidance curriculum action plans and closing the gap action plans. Both of these are detailed in the Blue Rock comprehensive school counseling program. The guidance curriculum action plan is set up to address specific domains within the ASCA National Model and in addition to dictating how lessons will play out, also details how the lessons will be evaluated. Closing the gap action plans are set up to pinpoint specific populations of students within the school who are struggling. Examples of these groups are found by analyzing data and might tackle issues such as:
 * Poor attendance
 * SAT scores
 * Graduation rate
 * Standardized test scores
 * Suspension rates
 * Discipline referrals
 * Drug violations

The following is an example of a guidance curriculum action plan focused on various lessons including: transitioning, SAT prep, Holland code analysis, and Drug and Alcohol Awareness:

The following is a sample closing the gap action plan written to address the number of disciplinary referrals and suspensions due to verbal/physical altercations among students: **Use of Time** The following chart describes the (approximate) percentage of time that the counselors will spend in each component area to ensure the successful delivery of the comprehensive school counseling program: __** Distribution of Counselor Time **__ **Calendars** The use of calendars in school counseling is imperative to not only keep counselors focused on upcoming tasks, but also to inform the school faculty and stakeholders of upcoming events and activities taking place in the school. Several different calendars are put together for the benefit of students, faculty, and parents/guardians so that all of these individuals are encouraged to plan ahead for important functions and to establish a pattern of highlighting and valuing student support opportunities (ASCA, 2005). The current master calendar has been created to spell out the role of the school counselor and meet the aforementioned use of time so that counselors are available to meet the needs of as many students as possible. It is the hope of the counseling department that this master calendar will help dictate the flow of events throughout the school so that ample time is given for all stakeholders to take part in the opportunities that are presented. From this Master Calendar, the school counselors created a monthly calendar which provides more detail into events associated with the counseling department that are taking place. This calendar is available in the main office, counseling office, school newspaper, monthly counseling newsletter, and on the counseling website. Each faculty member receives a copy of this and is encouraged to display it in his/her classroom to promote student attendance at counseling events. In order to provide further detail, the counseling department creates calendars on a weekly basis. While certain times are reserved for specific things such as group guidance lessons, these calendars are flexible so that different responsive services (i.e., crisis counseling) can be addressed when necessary. Found in this weekly calendar are the individual aspects of the delivery system as detailed in the above Use of Time including: individual student planning, responsive services, system support, and guidance curriculum delivery. Weekly calendars are sent out to the faculty every Monday morning so that the entire Blue Rock staff is aware of when each counselor might be free for meetings.
 * 15% ** of time delivering guidance curriculum
 * 35% ** of time with individual student planning
 * 30% ** of time with responsive services
 * 20% ** of time with system support